Underground Comics

I wasn't a huge fan of Robert Crumb's "Mr. Natural." I didn't find the style super appealing or humorous. I'm guessing the sexual content was intended for humor over pleasure since it felt incredibly profane. I wasn't a fan of the content involving the 'Baby," even if portrayed as fully grown. I really just found that section uncomfortable and excessive. Perhaps it was intended to be a parody on other comics, or satire, or just offensive, but I had a really hard time finding the entertainment value or purpose. I wasn't crazy about the art style either, it felt reminiscent of much older cartoons but didn't exactly feel tasteful.

 Other comics that I looked at were "Gay Comix," which seemed to have a number of artists and stories. Parts of this I did enjoy, it was really cool seeing queer artists expressing themselves. The note at the beginning mentioned it was a place for expression, without fear of being politically incorrect. Even with that, it felt much cleaner than "Mr Natural." The very first comic shown was very interesting to me content-wise, there isn't a lot of media about being bisexual, and especially at that time, I imagine it must have been pretty out there. It had a nice auto-biographical feeling to it, and I like that it ended on a nice note, after everything. I really enjoyed seeing the different styles and perspectives, while not every story really grabbed me, they worked well together and complimented each other.

I also read "Tits and Clits," which was a similarly organized in terms of multiple artists, stories, and perspectives. I liked the "Pastoral Interlude," comic, and I absolutely loved the "First Love," comic. That's one that I think I'm going to remember for a long time, seeing a comic, even just a 2-page spread, where the subject was simply "self-love and care," was unexpected, especially surrounded by all of the profanity from other comics. There was nudity, but it felt more natural and almost romantic. I loved it, I loved how simple it was but it said a lot. 

The humor here felt much more bearable then "Mr. Natural" too. The bit about the 'vibrator cozies" was pretty funny and silly, it felt like the artists were going for actual humor, as opposed to just shock value or offensiveness. The "sex rolls" bit was also pretty funny.